DONA MAE MCMASTERS

Dona Mae McMasters, 90, of North Aurora, IL, passed away peacefully with loving family at her side on Sunday, November 12, 2023, at Ascension Mercy Hospital in Aurora, Illinois. She was born on March 7, 1933, in Kewanee, Illinois, to Oscar and Estella “Stella” (Jenkins) Carlson. Dona married her high school sweetheart and the love of her life, Cyrus H. McMasters, Jr., on May 6, 1951, at the First Presbyterian Church in Milan, Illinois. Together, they shared thirty-nine beautiful years as a married couple until Cyrus passed away in 1990.

She lived in Kewanee, Illinois, and the Rylander, Wisconsin, areas during her early childhood years before her family relocated to the Quad Cities in Rock Island, Illinois. She attended elementary school through her first year of high school in Rock Island. Her family later moved to Coyne Center in Milan, Illinois, where Dona started her sophomore year at Sherrard High School in Sherrard, Illinois, where she graduated in 1951. It was there at Sherrard High School that Dona met her future husband. According to Dona and Cyrus, when Cyrus saw Dona for the first time in the school hallway, distracted while gazing at Dona, he almost fell down a staircase. They began dating and immediately fell deeply in love. When they were married in 1951, Cyrus was recently enlisted in the Navy in the United States Naval Construction Battalions, also known as the Seabees. Dona and Cyrus lived in Bermuda and Rhode Island during Cyrus’ accompanied portion of his tour in the US Navy. In Bermuda, Dona worked at a fine retail clothing store and later as a bookkeeper in Rhode Island before starting her family. Their first child, Mark, was born in the US Naval Hospital in Quonset Point, Rhode Island, when Cyrus was overseas. 

After Cyrus’s honorable discharge from the Navy in 1955, Dona and Cyrus returned to the Quad Cities. For many years, they lived on acreage in their little slice of heaven on Coyne Center Road, nestled next door to Cyrus’s parents and numerous extended family members who also lived on the same road and nearby. Coyne Center Road was fondly referred to as “Relative Road” by family and community friends. Here, they expanded their family with the birth of their two daughters, Gale and Brenda. Dona spent much of her life being a homemaker. Looking after her family gave her life purpose and fulfilled her beyond measure. She enjoyed being a grandmother and great-grandmother and looking after her two grandchildren, Lee and Erica. She was well-loved by family and friends, had a witty sense of humor, and was friendly, kind, and forgiving. She could talk to anyone and loved her relationships with her immediate family, in-laws, and all their family members. She also cared for her parents, Oscar and Stella, with Dona and Cyrus becoming their caregivers during her parents’ advancing years. They took her father in to live with them while raising their family. Her caring nature continued throughout her life. After her father passed, they took her mother in to live with them when she and Cyrus were empty nesters. Caregiving was innate for Dona. Her gentle, compassionate, and Christian nature allowed her to perform her caregiving duties for family and friends in need with abundant love. 

Dona was blessed as she had so much love in her heart for God and her Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, and for her husband, children, grandchildren, great-grandchild, extended family members, friends, pets, especially her cat Charlie, and grand-dogs, cats, bunnies, and horses. Dona enjoyed gardening with her family and canning fresh vegetables, grape juice, jams, jellies, and apples from their apple trees. She relished the family togetherness and support on “relative road” and large family gatherings and reunions with immediate and extended family members. Dona loved visits to and from her brother and his family in California, her mother’s family in Wisconsin, and Cyrus’s family in Florida. She enjoyed writing poetry and even won a contest for one of her poems. Dona’s love for God led her to be a long-time member of the First Presbyterian Church in Milan, Illinois. More recently, Dona was a charter member of New Hope Lutheran Church, LCMC of Geneva, Illinois. 

In 1990, Dona lost her partner and best friend too soon when Cyrus passed away at age 60 after his battle with cancer. Following his passing, Dona made many dear friends and fond cherished memories with her grief recovery group in the Quad Cities. She remained in her home in Coyne Center for many years until she relocated to her condo in Elburn, Illinois. This move allowed her to downsize and be closer to her daughter Brenda and her family, where she enjoyed babysitting and watching her granddaughter grow up and receive Brenda’s loving and dedicated care for her. Highlights included attending Erica’s choir performances, Madrigal dinners, and plays, becoming a great-grandmother to her great-grandson, Cyrus, named after her husband, and a visit from her pen pal in Australia from Dona’s teenage years. She also enjoyed many visits and phone calls with Mark’s, Gale’s, Brenda’s, and Lee’s family, extended family and friends, and long extended stays with Brenda, Gale, and Mark. Dona has resided at Asbury Gardens Nursing and Rehabilitation in North Aurora, Illinois, for the past few years. Other prior residences for assisted living were Heritage Woods in Batavia, Illinois, Bright Oaks, and Presence Fox Knoll in Aurora, Illinois, where she made new friends and especially loved to play the Kings in the Corner card game and Dominos. They will all surely miss her humor, contagious smile, and laughter. Dona enjoyed sharing her motto with those over 40, “We’re 39 forever, right!?!” with a laugh and a smile.

Dona will be missed dearly and is survived by her three children, Mark McMasters (Susan), Gale (Victor) Hanson, and Brenda (Eric) Johnson; her two grandchildren, Lee McMasters (Teona) and Erica Johnson; great-grandson, Cyrus McMasters; many nieces, nephews, extended family members, and friends. Dona was preceded in death by her loving husband of 39 years, Cyrus H. McMasters, Jr.; her parents, Oscar Carlson and Estella “Stella” Reed; stepfather, Ross Reed; her three siblings, Dale Carlson, Reed “Tommy” (Mary) Carlson, and Faye Carlson who passed as a toddler before Dona’s birth; a niece, three nephews, a great-nephew, numerous extended family members and friends dear to her heart. 

Dona’s interment will be next to her beloved husband at the Rock Island National Cemetery in Rock Island Arsenal, Illinois. Memorial, funeral service, and interment information will be determined and posted later. Instead of flowers, the family asks that you contribute to New Hope Lutheran Church, LCMC, PO Box 15, Geneva, IL 60134, for the Dona McMasters’ Memorial Fund.